Vietnam mulls zero tariff on oil, mineral imports
Vietnam mulls zero tariff on oil, mineral imports
Vietnam is considering scrapping import tariffs on crude oil and minerals.
The Ministry of Finance recently proposed eliminating the 5 percent tariff to "take away difficulties faced by businesses" that import crude oil.
It had earlier received a petition from state oil firm PetroVietnam to scrap the tariff.
The country’s first oil refinery, Dung Quat, is not running at full capacity due to a shortage of crude oil, the ministry said.
Saying non-renewable resources in the country are low, it pointed to a need to import minerals and ores to serve the growing demand from the manufacturing sector.
Mining output was down 2 percent last year, while crude oil production fell by 11.3 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.
The country imported $2.75 billion worth of crude oil last year, 5.7 times that of 2017, according to Vietnam Customs.
